PARIS Laura Bowlby and Margaret Knill-Wilson have a lot of experience with the annual Community Christmas Toy Drive and Hamper Program.
Knill-Wilson, 80, has been delivering Christmas cheer to Paris and area families for 40 years. Bowlby, 46, her friend and fellow volunteer, has been with the program for 34 years.
They were among the among about 100 volunteers on hand at the Paris fairgrounds on Friday morning to help distribute hampers.
Knill-Wilson said she remembers her first time helping a family.
“I saw a young child and a mother shivering in the cold and neither of them had a hat or mitts,” she said.
“So, I…purchased them mitts and hats.”
A hat and two pairs of mitts have been mainstays of the hamper program ever since.
Knill-Wilson said two pairs of mitts are given because one will get wet or lost.
In recent years, the hamper pickup has been at the fairgrounds. But Knill-Wilson said that, in the early days, the program was delivered out of the basement of her Paris home.
Bowlby became involved in the program through Pathfinders, Girl Guides, when she was 12. She has been involved every year since.
“For me, it’s all about restoring hope and joy,” Bowlby said. “It’s uplifting to see the community come together to ensure all children and families get to enjoy Christmas.
“The most satisfying moments for me are telling families in need that they have been sponsored by another family.”
That’s something Bowlby looks forward to each year. In past years, she worked with her late mother, Debbie Flewelling.
Bowlby said she enjoys seeing the families on delivery day and working with the volunteers who either deliver hampers to families or help with the pickup.
This year, 150 families will be helped, Shirley Simons, the program’s chair, said as families lined up to receive their hampers and toys.
Most of the families are from Paris but some are from St. George, Burford and Scotland.
“We received 22,000 pounds of food for our hampers and that’s pretty much what we receive every year,” Simons said.
“We have to thank the first-responders of our community (the OPP, the paramedics and firefighters). They held their food and toy drives on weekends and we’re grateful for their help.”
Simons couldn’t provide a dollar figure for financial donations but she said they are down this year, likely due to the increased cost of living.
This year’s toy drive got a boost from Steve’s Recycle Bicycle. The Brantford business donated seven bikes, of which three will go to children who have asked for one for Christmas.
The remaining bicycles will be matched with other families.
“It’s that kind of giving that makes this program a success each year,” Simons said. “There are so many people who want to help out and delivery day is always so much fun.
“We have all kinds of people who show up to help and somehow we just get it done.”
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